Warning British lives at risk after major US intelligence leak as minister says docs contain ‘inaccuracies’

LEAKED US intelligence documents about UK forces in Ukraine are riddled with “inaccuracies”, ministers warned today.

It comes as MPs raised serious concerns the classified documents could put British lives at risk.

Policing Minister Chris Philp urged the public against “relying too much” on top secret information contained in a leak of US intelligence on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Philp said: “Defence officials have cautioned that quite a lot of the information that has been released they feel is inaccurate. People should not rely on it too much.

“Clearly, I think the US government themselves have said they find this extremely unhelpful.”

The secret files are believed to have first been published in on a social media site popular with gamers.

The papers detail as many as 50 UK special forces personnel have been secretly deployed to Ukraine – the largest of any Nato member state.

They also show the US has been spying on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

And Washington is concerned UN chief Antonio Gutteres has been too accommodating of Russian interests.

The leaks summarised the training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, and said nine of them were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles.

Information in the documents also details expenditure rates for munitions under Ukraine military control, including for the HIMARS rocket systems, the US-made artillery rocket systems that have proven highly effective against Russian forces.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.

“Readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation.”

Chris Meagher, a spokesman for the Pentagon, urged caution in “promoting or amplifying any of these documents”.

He added that “it does appear that slides have been doctored”.

Last night Defence Committee Chairman Tobias Ellwood warned the papers could “endanger British lives”.

He told The Times: “Given our long-established lead in scale and capability when it comes to elite forces it will come as no surprise that our special forces are doing much of the heavy lifting.

“But this deliberate large-scale disclosure of sensitive material could easily endanger lives and should prompt an urgent review about who has access to sensitive information and how it is shared.”

Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Kearns told The Sun: “These are very serious leaks – if proven to be genuine documents – which will put at risk US and allied assets around the world, particularly those working to save Ukrainian lives.

“For now, they cannot be taken at face value as it’s clear Russia is creating fakes of these documents to try and spread disinformation.

“But if any of the documents are genuine, the individual who leaked them has done a disservice to the people of Ukraine, given far too much intelligence to Russian military planners, and put lives at risk.”